


Fight It

by LibraryMage



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Autistic Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Father-Son Relationship, Found Family, Gen, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 20:45:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8116981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: Kanan's mind is taken over by Dathomiri magic, and the results are nearly fatal.(CW for major character injury, major injury to a child, and possession/mind control)





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by two screencaps from the season 3 trailer (found here: http://humandisastersquad.tumblr.com/post/150420105618) where it looks like Kanan is possessed and he and Ezra fight each other.
> 
> Sorry if this is lower quality than my usual stuff. I wanted to get it posted before the season started and it stopped being canon-compliant. Needs a new title, but, you know...

Ezra took a few slow steps back when he saw the bright green glow in Kanan’s eyes.  He barely raised his lightsaber in time to block Kanan’s attack.

“Kanan, what are you --” he dodged another swing of the blue blade.

He grabbed his comm to call the _Ghost_ for help, but was forced to drop it as he blocked another blow from Kanan’s sword.  There was a _crack_ of plastic as Kanan crushed the comm under his boot, cutting Ezra off from his only hope of backup.

“Kanan,” Ezra said, continuing to back away from his master.  “Whatever’s going on here, this isn’t you.  Something’s making you do this.  You can fight it!”

But his words had no effect.  Kanan brought his sword crashing down against Ezra’s, their blades locking together.  Ezra ducked to the side, causing Kanan to lose his balance as the resistance of Ezra’s lightsaber against his disappeared.  Kanan turned around and lunged at Ezra again.  Ezra once again dodged the attack.  Kanan wasn’t in control of what he was doing, and Ezra didn’t want to hurt him.

“Listen to me, Kanan,” Ezra said as the two of them circled each other, Kanan reaching out through the Force to find an opening to attack, and Ezra watching every twitch of Kanan’s muscles to try and predict his next move.  “I know you’re in there.  I know you can hear me.  Just focus on my voice.”

Ezra was ready when Kanan attacked again.  He parried his blow and returned the attack, driving Kanan back a few feet before he stopped himself.

“So, you’re too afraid to fight back.”  The voice almost sounded like Kanan’s.  Almost.  There was something else behind it.  Whatever was controlling him must have been speaking through him.

“I'm not afraid,” Ezra said.  “But I'm not going to hurt you, Kanan, and I know you don’t want to hurt me.”

With that, Ezra tossed his lightsaber to the side.  It clattered to the floor a few feet away.

“I'm not gonna fight you, Kanan,” he said.  He could practically hear Kanan and Sabine’s voices in his head, telling him to never drop his weapon, never let his guard down around an enemy.  But Kanan wasn’t his enemy.  He was family.  And if Ezra knew anything about Kanan, it was that he would never hurt his family.  If anything could get him to fight off whatever it was that controlled him, this was it.

Still, Ezra had a brief moment of doubt as Kanan advanced towards him, like a wild cat stalking its prey.  But Ezra stood his ground.

“I won't fight you,” he repeated.

Kanan stopped in his tracks.  He lowered his weapon as the green glow faded from his eyes just slightly.

“Ezra,” he said.  His voice was strained, as if it was taking every scrap of strength he had just to get one word out, but it was _his_ voice.  “Ezra, run.”

“Kanan --”

“Go!” Kanan shouted.  “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this under control.  You have to leave, _now_!”

“I'm not leaving you, Kanan,” Ezra said.

The glow in Kanan’s eyes grew brighter and he spoke again, this time in that same voice that didn’t quite sound like his own.

“Then you will die.”

Ezra’s heart skipped a beat as he remembered hearing Vader say those exact words to Ahsoka before…

Ezra just barely managed to dodge Kanan’s attack in time.  He felt the heat of the lightsaber on his skin as it just missed slashing into his side.

“Kanan, you can fight this,” Ezra said, backing away from his master.  “I know you can do it.  Just --”

His words were cut off as he stumbled and fell backward, hitting the ground.  Kanan saw his chance and rushed at his fallen apprentice.  Seeing no other option, Ezra reached out through the Force, pulling his lightsaber to him.  He held his weapon up to shield himself half a second before Kanan’s blade came crashing down on his.  Ezra gritted his teeth as he pushed back against the blue-white blade, pouring all his strength into holding those few inches of distance between him and Kanan, those few inches that held the difference between life and death.

But Kanan was bigger than him, and a lot stronger.  Within moments, Ezra was almost flat against the cave floor, with his own lightsaber getting closer and closer to his neck.  Kanan’s boot connected with Ezra’s wrist, striking a nerve that sent pain shooting through the boy’s arm.  Ezra just managed to switch his lightsaber off before his reflex to release his grip on it kicked in.

Time seemed to stop just long enough for Ezra to realize what had just happened, and what was going to happen next.

He screamed as the burning plasma blade slashed down into his chest.  Some self-preserving instinct took over and he _shoved_ through the Force, sending Kanan flying back.  Ezra dragged himself along the ground until he was slumped against the cavern wall.  He forced himself to keep his eyes open despite the searing pain, looking for a way out.  But Kanan stood between him and the only exit, holding both his and Ezra’s lightsabers.

There was no chance of him getting out of this cave.  The burning wound in his chest was causing so much pain he could barely remember how to move.

And for the first time in his life, Ezra was absolutely certain that he was going to die.

“Kanan,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper in his last, desperate attempt to reach his master behind this thing that was controlling him.

Ezra felt something tighten around his throat.  He gasped for breath as he was lifted into the air.  Kanan flung his hand out and Ezra slammed backward into the wall of the cave.  He clawed at his throat and kicked at the wall as he struggled to breathe.

“Kanan.”  He managed to choke out his master’s name even as his throat was being crushed closed.  His quiet plea had no effect.

“Dad, please,” he whispered.

As Ezra hung there, suspended in the air, his lungs felt like they were burning.  The edges of his vision started to go dark.  He went limp, not having the strength to fight against Kanan’s hold on his throat.  As he began to fall into the darkness that surrounded him, he felt something through the Force that crashed into his mind like a tidal wave.

He was jolted back into semi-consciousness as he hit the ground.  He blinked slowly, trying to remember how to process what he saw.  Kanan was on his knees, his lightsaber on the ground beside him.  The green glow had disappeared from his eyes.

“Ezra!” Kanan said.  Ezra felt Kanan’s mind brush against his as his master tried to find his exact location through the Force.  Kanan ran to Ezra and knelt down beside him.

“Ezra,” he said again.  He reached out to touch the boy’s shoulder, but Ezra flinched, pulling away from his touch.  Kanan could sense his fear.

“Ezra, we have to get back to the _Ghost_ ,” Kanan said.  Ezra nodded.  He knew Kanan couldn’t see him, but he couldn’t figure out speech.  Even if he could, he wasn’t sure if he’d be physically able to say anything.  But Kanan must have sensed that it was okay to touch him, because he gently lifted Ezra into his arms.

As Kanan ran out of the cave and back toward where the _Ghost_ was waiting, Ezra was just holding on to the edge of consciousness.  By the time they reached the ship, he had passed out.

Kanan shouted for Hera as he ran into the ship’s cargo hold.  Hearing the fear and desperation in his voice, Hera ran to him.  When she saw Ezra unconscious and wounded in his arms, she sprang into action.

“Zeb!” she shouted.  “Get the medkit!  Meet us in your cabin!  Sabine, put us on a course back to Atollon!  Get us there as fast as possible!”

The hammering sound of two sets of running footsteps told her they'd heard her and were on their way.  She and Kanan brought Ezra to the cabin he shared with Zeb and laid him out on the bottom bunk.  It was then that Hera got a real look at his injuries.  She would have gasped in shock, but held herself back for Kanan’s sake.  He was scared enough.  One of them needed a clear head.  She could shelve her own fear and deal with it later.

Zeb arrived with the medkit just a few seconds later.  As he handed it to Hera, he stared at Ezra’s limp form.

“Go help Sabine,” Hera said.  “Let her know what happened.  If I need either of you, I’ll call.”

Zeb nodded and left the room.  His silence almost worried her more than Ezra’s actual injuries.

“Hold this,” Hera said, handing the medkit to Kanan.  He nodded, not saying a word.  Hera didn’t have to be a Jedi to tell that he was reeling after whatever had happened to Ezra.  She’d ask him about it later, once their boy was out of the woods.

She grabbed a pair of scissors from the medkit and began to cut Ezra’s shirt off of him.  That wound on his chest was the priority.  She’d never seen anything like it, all blood and black, burned tissue.  Ezra whimpered as she gently pulled away the bits of fabric stuck around the wound.

“I know,” she said softly.  She grabbed a handful of bacta bandages.  If there was damage to any bones, these wouldn’t help, but they’d repair the tissue at the very least, and if he needed more than that, she’d have to hand him over to the medics back at the base.

After ten minutes, Hera was able to breathe a little easier.  She’d bandaged the wound on Ezra’s chest, cracked a couple of cold packs and set them on his neck to bring down the swelling, and placed a small amount of bacta on a cut on the back of his head.  Ezra’s breathing was less erratic and he seemed to be in less pain.  He would hold out until they reached Atollon.

Hera’s shoulders drooped as she was finally able to come down from emergency mode.  She stared at the unconscious boy in front of her.  He looked so much smaller as he lay there.

“Who did this to him?” she asked quietly.

For a moment, there was silence until, finally, Kanan spoke.

“I did,” he whispered, his voice hollow.  Hera stared at him in disbelief.

“Something happened in the cave,” he said.  “Something took over my mind and --”

Kanan laid his head in his hands.

“I could have killed him, Hera,” he said, his voice cracking.  “I almost did.  I almost killed our son.”

Hera gently took one of his hands in both of hers.

“Ezra’s a tough kid, Kanan,” she said.  “He’ll make it through this.  I know he will.”

“Dad,” Ezra whispered, his voice weak and strained.  He was still unconscious, and Hera relayed that information to Kanan.  For a moment, they were both relieved that he was dreaming about his family, until Hera saw his hands start twitching and his legs begin to kick and thrash.

“Dad, no,” Ezra said, his voice shaking as he begged for mercy.  “Please.”

Hera let go of Kanan’s hand and took Ezra’s.

“Ezra, it’s okay,” she said.  “You’re safe.  We’re here.”

But tears began to leak from the corners of Ezra’s eyes.  Hera glanced at Kanan and saw him furiously brushing tears off of his own cheeks, and she understood.

Kanan knelt down on the ground next to the bunk and slowly reached out to lay a hand gently on Ezra’s forehead.

“I am so sorry, Ezra,” he said.  “I know that’s not enough, but I am.  I would never willingly hurt you.”

He and Hera sat beside Ezra in silence until they reached Atollon.  Hera holding Ezra’s hands and Kanan gently stroking his hair.

* * *

 

It was three days before Ezra was declared recovered enough to leave the medbay at the Atollon base.  He’d spent most of the time unconscious, in a medically-induced coma to allow him to heal.  The medics said there may have been brain damage from lack of oxygen and slamming his head on the wall, and that the best way to prevent it was to keep him out cold.

When Ezra returned to the _Ghost_ , he’d retreated to his cabin immediately, still shaken after what had happened between him and Kanan.  While the others had had three days to process it, he hadn’t been awake for most of that time.  The closest he’d come to processing any of it was in the dreams he’d had, which he didn’t want to revisit.

Ezra had been alone in the room for several hours and had taken up a position on the floor in the corner next to the bunk when he heard a soft knock on the door.  He could sense it was Kanan.  The door slid open.

“Sabine made dinner,” he said.

Ezra winced.  “Pass,” he said.

“You just spent three days being fed through a tube,” Kanan pointed out.

“I think I’d rather go through that again,” Ezra said, cracking a small smile.  Kanan couldn’t see the smile, but he was relieved to hear him making a joke.

Kanan took a step into the room and the door slid shut behind him.

“Ezra, I --”

“It wasn’t you,” Ezra said cutting him off.

“I know,” Kanan said, sitting down beside Ezra.  “And I'm glad you know that.  But I _am_ sorry about what happened.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Ezra said.  “I should’ve run when you told me to.”

“Hey,” Kanan said, reaching out and taking Ezra’s hand, gripping it tight in his.  “It wasn’t your fault, either.  None of it was.  Got it?”

Ezra nodded, then remembered and said “yes” out loud.

“Good,” Kanan said.  “You stayed there to help me, and I’ll never forget that.”

Kanan put his arms around Ezra, pulling him into a gentle embrace.  Ezra leaned his head against Kanan’s shoulder and shut his eyes, listening to the rhythm of his master’s breathing.

“You were so brave that day,” Kanan said.  “More than I would have been.  I am so proud to call you my apprentice, and even prouder to call you my son.”

Ezra smiled.

“Thanks, Dad.”


End file.
